Hepple Juniper Aged Negroni

Hepple make gin out on the Northumberland moors, where over a fifth of the juniper in the national park grows on their own land. So when they set about a bottled Negroni, juniper was always going to be the point. Nick Strangeway took the classic 1919 Florentine formula — gin, red vermouth, bitter — and rebuilt it around the berry, then used ultrasonic infusion to age the batch rapidly on juniper wood. It gives the drink a resinous, incense-like backbone you don't get from a Negroni built at the bar.

Pre-batched and bottled at 32.1%, this is a Negroni that has already had time to marry, which is exactly what a Negroni wants. The nose leads with herbaceous thyme and a faintly smoky red-fruit note. Then the juniper arrives — a proper cloud of it — carrying a rounded, juicy bitterness, grapefruit peel and a sweet, lingering pine finish. It's fuller and more aromatic than most bottled versions, and it drinks like something poured in a good bar.

Keep a bottle in the freezer and you're ninety seconds from an aperitivo. This is the one for when people arrive and you want a real drink in their hand before they've taken their coat off.

How to Serve

Chill in the freezer for an hour, then pour straight up with a wedge of orange — no ice needed, it's ready as it is. Prefer something longer? Pour over ice and lengthen with soda for a Negroni Sbagliato feel.

Where to Drink It

Dukes Bar in St James's for the aperitivo hour. Scarfes Bar at the Rosewood for a fireside version. Boisdale of Belgravia if you want it with a bit of theatre.

Food Pairings

The bitterness is built for salty, fatty snacks — a plate of Parma ham and olives, or crisps and salted almonds. It also cuts nicely through a bowl of Nocellara olives.